June 6, 2025 • 30 mins
“Inspired by their faith, Hope Within Ministries addresses the physical, spiritual and emotional needs of the residents of Lancaster, Lebanon, and Dauphin Counties who so desperately need them.” http://www.hopewithin.org
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hi, I'm Sylvia Moss and this is Insight, a presentation
of iHeartMedia where we really do care about our local
communities and all our listeners who live here. It's a
word that evokes feelings of desperation, despair, and homelessness, and it
is for anybody who's experiencing it. Very basically, poverty is
(00:20):
defined as the human condition of not being able to
obtain or provide a standard level of things like food, water, shelter,
and medicine free or your family. However, there really isn't
anything basic about poverty because the numerous way that it
impacts those who are living in it are extensive and
generally interconnected. YEP. Poverty does exist all over the world,
(00:43):
but according to the US Census Bureau, so far this
year in twenty twenty five, almost thirty seven million Americans
are living in poverty. The outrageous thing about poverty is
that we're as well off as we are right here
in the United States. The number of people living in
poverty in our city, our rural areas, and small communities
is increasing. For almost a quarter of a century, a
(01:06):
local organization known as Hope within Ministries has understood the
complexity of poverty. They continue to provide needed services while
at the same time address the complicated physical, spiritual, and
emotional needs of the countless number of residents right here
in Lebanon, Dauphin, and Lancaster Counties. Joining us today from
Hope Within Ministries is development director and a real good
(01:29):
old friend. I don't want to say old in that sense,
but meaning I know for a long time, Laurie Reiker.
When I talk to people la are in Central Pennsylvania
about different issues, Okay, a lot of them, they don't
believe it. They don't believe that right here there's poverty
in central Pennsylvania. I try to talk to them, but
some people you can't get through. Have you found that
(01:50):
to be the case too? Do people not believe that
so many people need help in Central Pa?
Speaker 2 (01:55):
Well, first of all, thank you for having me. Absolutely,
it's always good to have you folks like yourself that
allow us to introduce Hope Within Ministry since we're in
the backyard and as people don't know where we are
or who we are and right and what we do.
So yeah, so part of what the ministry is about
is to provide primary medical care services to those folks.
(02:16):
Without health insurance, and there's a lot of people without
health insurance exactly, and you know, depending on how things go,
you're going to see an increase in the number of
people without health insurance or access to affordable health care.
It's probably a good way to put it. So, even
if it's not poverty level, it's just the idea that
there are people working, individuals that don't have health coverage
(02:38):
and then they don't have necessarily the ability or maybe
they just use as a deterrent to seek medical attention.
And that's what we do find.
Speaker 1 (02:48):
And you know what else I've done years and years ago,
there were a lot of programs out there for people
who desperately needed but they forget about middle class and
the middle class people now you see them working two
and three jobs. But a lot of people said to me,
I'm just below or just you know where I don't
qualify a couple of bucks, and you don't get it,
and yet you've got as much to worry about as
(03:09):
everybody else. So go ahead, Yes.
Speaker 2 (03:12):
Yes, I was just actually and I'm glad you kind
of segued into that. So the concern is that you
do have individuals that don't meet the qualifications. In other words,
our folks are at two hundred and fifty percent federal
poverty level or below. Right, But then there's individuals that
are working the two or three jobs and none of
those employers offer health coverage. So then you're going to
(03:34):
go to what they call the marketplace and try to
purchase health coverage and realize that that's amount. That amount
that you're going to pay could be a mortgage payment, right,
but you're trying to pay rent, You're trying to keep
a roof of your head. You're trying to help, you know,
especially if you have kids, just to afford children. Right,
And I'm talking basics. I don't mean anything fans exactly.
I'm talking very basics. So the parents and sometimes what
(03:57):
we do see, I mean, do have services of the
primary healthcare services really are for adults and kids. Okay,
so we do see both.
Speaker 1 (04:04):
Well, before we talk about that, though, let's get to
like where you are, what can you do and who
are these people that you serve.
Speaker 2 (04:12):
So we're located at forty seven forty eight East Harrisburg
Pike about two thirty probably the easiest way to and
so we're Elizabethtown. But technically we're not in the borough proper,
if that makes sense. We're just west of it.
Speaker 1 (04:25):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (04:25):
We're on Route two thirty, and i'd say we're east
of what easted to be Saturday's Market. We're east of
Sunset Golf Course. We're closer to the e town side.
We're actually in lower Dolphin school districts. Okay, so we're
in Dauphin County. But we do service folks like you
mentioned earlier, right from Levitt and Lancaster and Dauphin County areas.
Speaker 1 (04:42):
Okay, Well, very basically, you have a couple of different programs. Yes,
could you tell me what they are and then we
can get into what each one does in a little bit.
Speaker 2 (04:49):
Yeah. So really it's primary healthcare is the main and
it started out that way in two thousand and six
when the doors of the clinic opened. So primary healthcare
and then also dental services by donation, okay, and then
counseling services for low cost And what I mean by
low cost counseling is you know, five, ten, fifteen twin dollars.
Speaker 1 (05:08):
Oh yeah, yeah, that sounds good. Okay. Who are the
people that come to you?
Speaker 2 (05:11):
So I'd like to say we service folks from all
over the world, and we do have folks that come
to us by various means and methods. You do sometimes
have individuals that are here temporarily. You have some folks
that have come in to visit other relatives and then
while they're here, they may have an ilment or they
may need medication, but they don't have their medication with
them because maybe they forgot. And that happens typically to anybody, right.
Speaker 1 (05:34):
Yeah, you go away on vacation. Yeah, I've done it.
Speaker 2 (05:36):
Oh no, no, what And then you know, to say
that is that you don't always have, you know, folks
from outside the United States. You don't always have those
individuals that are using the same medications that we have
in the United States. So it gets a little tricky,
but we do our best to try to accommodate and
then try to find medications. We have a dispensary on site.
Oh well, we also work with local healthcare systems, a
(05:59):
large healthcare systems to also accommodate. So like Penn State
Health is probably a good one.
Speaker 1 (06:05):
Wonder.
Speaker 2 (06:05):
Yeah, and then we have which we'll talk about our
physicians at Volunteer.
Speaker 1 (06:10):
Okay, let's you mentioned about qualifying for these programs, you
have to go online and fill out and app right.
Speaker 2 (06:17):
There is an application online at hopewin dot org and
it's in multiple languages.
Speaker 1 (06:21):
Okay, good, Say you don't know how to use a
computer with is there anybody can help you do it?
Speaker 2 (06:26):
Right? They can? They can obviously access us by phone
number and that's the seven one seven, the three six seven,
and then nine seven nine seven, And we actually have
you know, life people that can help walk them through
or navigate that because you're right, in some situations you
don't have electronic or there maybe some people just aren't
you know, electronically.
Speaker 1 (06:47):
Savvy savvy exactly, yeah.
Speaker 2 (06:49):
Yeah, so, yes, there is a means to do that.
And even if they fill the application out online, then
we do have an individual in house that will look
at the application, review it and then reach out to
the individual if they have questions, and then get them
set up for an appointment with a physician, one of
our volunteer physicians.
Speaker 1 (07:05):
Okay, now you mentioned two hundred and fifty percent. Did
you say below the poverty level?
Speaker 2 (07:09):
So two hundred fifty percent federal property level or below?
Speaker 1 (07:11):
Yeah? No, for I checked this out to make sure
for an adult somebody by themselves is like almost like
fourteen five hundred bucks and for a family of four
to thirty thousand dollars.
Speaker 2 (07:22):
Yeah, but you think about that in day's economics, Sylvia, Oh,
you consider it no way now? Maybe five even though
I'm even thinking about even five years ago. I mean,
you know, it's been a while since I've raised children.
You have my daughter's thirty five right to tell you
how old I am. But anyway, hey, I got that
beat right, But you know what it was like to
(07:42):
raise a family. And then when I will just say,
within the past three four years, the inflation rate, how
do you keep up with that? So you do have
I think in some circumstances you probably have families that
are coming to us that never thought that they would
have to come to us. But they need, right, they
need addition, no help. Yeah, And we are primarily between
the health services, the dental services, low cost counseling. Because
(08:07):
we are a faith based organization, we also provide that spiritual.
Speaker 1 (08:10):
I'm glad you brought that up. Faith based. Explain how
that fits into everything?
Speaker 2 (08:16):
Well, I mean by faith based is it is a ministry.
And you know I often thought and when I talk
to congregations. I do a lot of speaking with congregations
because churches support us in the area. So oftentimes I
address that and say that, you know, our physicians are
able to if they choose to, if the patient wants to,
they can pray with that patient. We're typically in a
(08:37):
regular you know, clinic or denomination, yes, right, or let's
just say government funded. Okay, okay, we're not government funded.
We solely are based on donations from the generosity of
the churches and organizations and listeners, you know, the program
listeners of w HP and all across the iHeart stations
and people in central Pennsylvania have big hearts, and I
(09:00):
like to think that they're very generous individuals, so we're
very thankful for that.
Speaker 1 (09:04):
Are the churches typically do they church typically welcome what
you're doing.
Speaker 2 (09:08):
Yes, yeah, I would say for the most part, and
that's across the three counties.
Speaker 1 (09:12):
Well, you know, I know, like a lot of the
churches have their own thing that they do. But the
country started out with the churches took care of people, Yes,
did it, And somehow it got it. I don't know
why or how it got out of you know, with
the other direction. But that's good.
Speaker 2 (09:25):
That's good to hear, right, So I would say it
provides I always like to say it provides them with
physical health, and it actually for some people gives them
a second chance because they'll come to us in dire
need and we try to get them back on track
right and then provide that regular maintenance, if you will,
because we usually we get them with one physician. We
(09:47):
try to keep them schedule with the same physician.
Speaker 3 (09:49):
You know.
Speaker 2 (09:50):
I'm like I was gonna say, unlike some practices that
you walk into oh thank you, then you have like
five you're like, oh who do I have today?
Speaker 1 (09:56):
And they don't even read your record before they walk
in the door to talk. Yeah, I know that song
go ahead.
Speaker 2 (10:03):
So you know, we also, like I said, I like
to say that we also have the spiritual side. So
you provide a better health and well being and then
that spiritual need because understand that, like I said, some
folks come to us in dire need, and so that
they because they haven't had insurance, so they wait till
the last minute to come to us, and then they
may also be faced with a detrimental illness. It could
(10:26):
be something that you know, could be require additional help
or a specialist which can be referred out, but you know,
sometimes it helps to have the individual that's there to say, hey,
do you mind if I pray for you and help
you with that because this could be a long, long
journey for you and we're here with you.
Speaker 1 (10:44):
Well, that's another part of this. I wanted to ask
you about the people that go what would you call them?
Your patients? Your closs?
Speaker 2 (10:49):
Yeah, I would say patients.
Speaker 1 (10:50):
Okay, are they receptive to that? Because, like to you
and I, that's like that's the person we do is
ask got you know, pray, But a lot of people
in society that's the last resort, right And.
Speaker 2 (11:05):
I understand that, and I think they're again I believe
that the both medical and non medical personnelity are they're
all volunteers, but I think they pretty much can you know,
see whether or not that that's appropriate or acceptable. And
I'd say probably more cases than not, though, Sylvia, the
patients are welcome.
Speaker 1 (11:22):
Oh that's good.
Speaker 2 (11:24):
I believe that they do. Now you understand, I mean
out of the clinic a lot. I'm on the road,
so I say I'm on the road or the old fit,
you know, sales term. I always uses I'm in the
field because I'm out doing you know, meeting people and
doing my speaking opportunities and doing community events to get
the word out about Hope Within. And I always find
(11:44):
that face to face contact, you know, is a tremendous
benefit because a lot of people, like I said, they
don't know who we are. Then maybe they heard of
us and they said, I don't know what you guys do.
Speaker 1 (11:52):
Well, that's why I love doing this show, because there's
a lot of stuff, yeah that it's out there, and
I just love it. Let's talk about the Community Health Center. Okay. Now,
keep in mind, as we said, it's for Lancaster, Lebanon,
Dauphin County residents and you have to qualify, So go
fill out that app online. What are your primary care
services the offer? I understand you manage certain disease and
(12:14):
like say, somebody has heart disease, right right.
Speaker 2 (12:16):
I mean we do have well and you know, speaking
from a non medical background, pretty much we can handle
all those services. And we do have some specialists well
I mean is that they are primary care doctors, but
they had specialized in or have you know a little
more background in particular areas that could at least see
our patients on a primary care basis, and then if necessary,
(12:39):
they can refer those individuals out for additional help I
mean or additional specialists. Yes, because again we're primary care.
The other thing is we're not a walking clinic, so
I want to give people the impression that we're a
walking Yeah we apply, yeah, well, knowing that we just
because we are strictly and most of us I'll say
there's at least thirty volunteers or over that. Now we're
(13:01):
probably closer to fifty volunteers, both medical and non medical.
That generally speaking, even if, like you said, they didn't
apply a line. We've had people walk in and then
we have them apply either there while they're there, or
go online and apply and then get them set up
with a particular physician to be seen.
Speaker 1 (13:20):
That process.
Speaker 2 (13:22):
Oh, I'd say, as soon as the application is filled
out and then it's reviewed. I'm thinking you could turn
that within a matter of hours in some cases. I
mean they've I know in cases where they made exceptions
and said, you know, hey, we have the physicians here
an extra hour and if he's willing to stay, if
you can just fill out the application, we take a
(13:42):
quick minute to look at it? Do you mind waiting?
You know, now that's not always the case, because then
that sounds like it's more of a walk in. But
on on occasion, I'm not saying it's not impossible, because
on occasion that may happen where they can like uh,
I'll just say they go over and above both from
our non medical folks, the f that handle all the
reception and administrative work, to the physicians that are there
(14:05):
to volunteer their hours.
Speaker 1 (14:06):
What options do people have if they don't qualify?
Speaker 2 (14:09):
I think oftentimes what are I call them the healthcare
navigators will help them find alternatives in terms of what
they you know what I mean, help get them directed
to the right agencies or facilities that can maybe accommodate
those individuals. We don't want to see people out in
the cold without anything, right. We want to try and help.
Speaker 1 (14:27):
Your based organization, Yes, right number.
Speaker 2 (14:31):
One, And I mean basically we everybody acrosses our threshold,
regardless of their background or ethnicity or you know what
I mean, or their situation, and certainly what the counseling services,
especially you know, our counseling services by just in numbers
from twenty three to twenty twenty four, almost tripled, is
that right? The amount of people that are using our
(14:53):
counseling services.
Speaker 1 (14:54):
Well, it's just number one issue in this right.
Speaker 2 (14:57):
I was just going to say that, Yes, it's indign
of what we've been through over the past. Hard to believe,
like five plus years, but even before, even before the pandemic,
I just think that the pandemic kind of accentuated it.
Speaker 1 (15:09):
Or accelerated it. I know it had impact on children.
Oh my goodness, what service did y'aller for kids?
Speaker 2 (15:16):
So for kids, I mean essentially the medical and certainly
the dental services, which is great because considering that there's
probably youngsters that are coming in that were never seen
by a dentists and they could be like five, six, eight,
ten years of age. We do have a pediatric dentist
that volunteers time too, which is which is tremendous. So
(15:37):
you know, I can't say enough about our volunteers in general,
always looking for more volunteers. By the way, you know,
you can never have enough volunteers.
Speaker 1 (15:45):
Right, And that's the part of the organization.
Speaker 2 (15:47):
It really is, It really is. I think it's our
way for a lot of nonprofits, particularly for US and
you don't have to have the medical background, but we
could definitely use more volunteers for the organization as a whole.
Speaker 1 (15:59):
How do you had immunization especially all this stuff.
Speaker 2 (16:03):
And it's it's overseen by the physicians and then also
we have a head nurse and so it is coordinated
as far as as these immunizations. But I'm glad you
brought that up because even though we're ending the school year,
there will be parents out there that may need that
to get their kids started in the fall.
Speaker 1 (16:18):
So do it now.
Speaker 2 (16:19):
Yeah, yeah, don't let it go. I would say, you know,
anything like that, you want to stay ahead of it
and be proactive.
Speaker 4 (16:25):
Women's services, Yes, gynecological in other words, we have availability
for a physician to oversee from a general practice to gynocological.
Speaker 1 (16:37):
So they're going to check pregnant women out, they're going
to do mammograms all that kind of stuff.
Speaker 2 (16:41):
So the mammograms I think we still I think those
are still referred out.
Speaker 1 (16:45):
Yeah they're.
Speaker 2 (16:48):
Yes, But I mean it helps to have that referral
because then they can get them in and get them
skin and a part of that I think though too though, Sylvia,
is it if you make it easy for the women
to access that. Even though it's referred out, they'll go.
You know, I'm because at times, no, men are the worst, right,
they don't want to do anything. And I know how
that is being married for thirty some years, right, trying
(17:08):
to twist arms.
Speaker 1 (17:10):
You know, with the prostate coalition, the gentleman that comes
in and talks about this, that's the number one thing
they are targeting women because men just aren't going to
get off their butts and do it. And a lot
of times it's too.
Speaker 2 (17:21):
Late, right right. And you could say the same about colonoscopy.
So that's a conversation for another day.
Speaker 1 (17:30):
You did talk about dispensing medication. Let's go talk more
about the dental clinic. You're not going to listen to giveaway.
You're not going to provide things like dancers or things
like that.
Speaker 2 (17:40):
You don't do that, so not to that level, but
certainly the cleanings and screenings, ceilants, you know, so all
the basics. Yes, but when you get to again, I'm
not saying that we don't have the means at this
point to be able to do the extraordinary. Although in
one instance, doctor Cook is one of our volunteer dentists
(18:01):
and she has a practice full time on the West Shore,
and then she volunteers at our clinic.
Speaker 1 (18:05):
Isn't that something I know? That's who does this? People who? Yes,
full time job? Oh yeah, God bless them, Erica.
Speaker 2 (18:11):
How about it. God bless them for for taking time
out of their busy schedules already. But then she had
an incident with one of our patients that had come
in and that woman needed some heart She had to
have heart surgery done, but her oral surgery was in
such poor health.
Speaker 3 (18:27):
That's what people don't understand that they they stepped in,
I mean doctor goodtein Inicile's her assistant, and the two
of them put in extra time because they have the
heart and soul and the passion to help individuals well
need well.
Speaker 2 (18:39):
People don't were about that's right.
Speaker 1 (18:41):
People don't understand that if you don't take care of
your teeth and gums, it can happen.
Speaker 2 (18:45):
They are directly related. Yes, and you're and you're you're
you're very yes, yes, yes, yes, it is a I think,
as you mentioned that, people don't necessarily understand the connection.
But they're tied close together. So did all the dental
work that they could possibly do and then to get
that woman ready for the surgery because she had to
have that surgery done. But the physician, because of such
(19:08):
poor dental right because we said the two are connected,
he wasn't going to operate on her. So luckily, well,
I mean in the long run it worked out. So
I mean they just went the extra mile mile and
a half, right.
Speaker 1 (19:21):
Talk about more, and we just touched on counseling. It's
for everybody. It's it's open to the public, and there's
a lot of different I don't know if you would
know about some of the yours. Of course, they're depressed,
they have anxiety, things like that. And these people that
offered their time the counseling center are they registered are
the therapy.
Speaker 2 (19:41):
So most of them practice, I believe. All the more
are the graduate students at Lankster Bible College. Doctor Carol
Geiger is the director of the counseling center. She does
a tremendous job. And I mean they they work as
a team. So even though let's say you sit with
one counselor, they'll look at your whole obviously it's all confidential,
(20:02):
but they will look at your case as a team. Okay,
And decide like what is the best, you know, way
to move forward. And it could be everything from the
of course financial people through stress, right, whether it's caused
by finances obviously, you know, with the with the tumultuous
economy at times, it could be job related. It could
just be family and marriage, you know, and challenges with
(20:25):
raising a family or or marriage, counseling, anxiety, stress, depression, yeah,
all of that. And like I said, when I looked
at the twenty twenty three numbers and then we just
you know, at the beginning of the year, looked at
twenty twenty four numbers, and I was amazed because well
I wasn't. I wasn't.
Speaker 1 (20:44):
I was anxious to ask you that how your numbers
had been within a year or so.
Speaker 2 (20:50):
Yeah, it almost tripled in terms of counseling. So you know,
there again the counseling center, it is a separate wing.
But I in my mind, I thought, if I would
be able to look at the everything five to ten
years down the road, I can imagine like a whole
like dental area, just just dental by itself, and then
(21:10):
the counseling and of course the medical I could see
my coworkers are gonna be like, oh no, no, I
could see like if we had the availability and the
money to do so, I could see us definitely enlarge
in the clinic.
Speaker 1 (21:21):
Well, I know you and it's going to happen.
Speaker 2 (21:23):
But we're you know, we're restricted by our size right now.
So we're trying to manage the best we can. But
in terms of dentistry, we could use another volunteer, dentists.
Speaker 1 (21:33):
Let's talk more about these wonderful volunteers. But they like
the dentists and the doctors and all these people that
help help tell us a little bit about them. More
about that.
Speaker 2 (21:42):
So the physicians, uh again, some of them are retired,
some of them are still actively employed, but a lot
of them come to us by way of you know,
other healthcare systems. And then some of them are still employed,
some are retired. And what's interesting is in the uh
we just read there a three minute video for Hope
within so that when I go out and do speaking
(22:03):
engagements with organizations, like one of our doctors in there
is doctor Rittenhouse. And of course when I'm down in
the Lancaster Areabody's like doctor Rittenhouse, that's my doctor, you know,
So he's like the celebrity, right. Yeah, So these are
a lot of folks that have been involved in their communities,
have involved in the you know, medical field for some years,
and they just do a tremendous job with our patients.
(22:26):
I will say that. So if I'm in now the
clinic of I'm in the office side, and that's where
our physicians do all of their you know, uh, computer work,
right because everything has to be documented scripts, if they
have to write you prescription and so forth. So I
just know that they have that good relationship and that
connection with their patients, which is a great feeling. And
so I will say our patients are well taken care of,
(22:48):
both from the non medical side, spiritual side, and of
course from the medical side itself. Dentists again actively employed,
whether private practice or with a healthcare system, but I
would say mostly to volunteer their time. So with a dentist,
we could always use another volunteer dentist or two. You
have to have a dentist on site, even for our
(23:10):
hygienis to do all the cleanings and you know, the
exams and do the x rays. Yeah, so we still
have to have some buy on site even if they
were just doing paperwork as long as they're on site.
So we could have about how to express this except
where we're a need because we have ninety three people
waiting for dental services, oh goodness, and that's just our patients.
(23:32):
We don't even have the availability right now, Sylvia open
it up to the public, and we know that there's
a tremendous need from the public for dental services, so
it would be you know, hopefully down the road, it
will be tremendous if we can increase the amount of
dental patients that can be seen.
Speaker 1 (23:51):
So it'll work. I know you and as I said,
known you for a long time. I know you have
a huge heart. But when I ask about something happened recently,
you lost somebody. Can you talk about him a little bit.
Speaker 2 (24:02):
Just briefly. You know. We're appreciative of both Anita and
Brian for starting the clinic. It was a vision in
two thousand and two, and then the clinic opened its
stores in two thousand and six, so they really pioneered
the clinic, and I think, do we have a physical
responsibility to be good stores of that clinic and hopefully
keep it open for another twenty years. But along with that,
(24:22):
like I said, I'd like to be able to see,
you know, an envision us being able to provide more
services in terms of or at least increase the amount
patient base that we have, so that, in my mind
would be the goal.
Speaker 1 (24:34):
Let me ask you a little something about I like
to these interviews are more than facts and figures. I
have said many times, I know who comes in here
who's like an executive director, and they are passionate about something,
and they will be there. And I also can recognize
who's there because they're waiting to move to the next
(24:55):
job for one reason or another. You're not like that.
But I want to ask you, working for this organization,
did it make you realize anything about yourself? Well?
Speaker 2 (25:05):
Yes, but even before that when I was working, I've
been in you know, I was in private you know,
industry for for years. So let's say thirty five plus
years without like really aging myself, but thirty five plus
years in private industry.
Speaker 1 (25:17):
Better talk to some one of those counselors, because age
go ahead. I did the same thing.
Speaker 2 (25:24):
Well, but you know, I've been in sales, marketing, you know,
branding and promotion. I've been doing that for ten years,
a long time, right, was at WHP here many years back,
and I always enjoyed that. And the last company I
was with a large corporation, nationwide corporation with like fifty
some thousand employees blah blah blah. So uh, I always
(25:46):
thought that there was something more than that. Had to
be something more, had to be, something bigger and better
than that. And I don't mean from a economic standpoint,
I mean from a spiritual.
Speaker 1 (25:57):
Change people's lives.
Speaker 2 (25:58):
Yes, because right, God gave us this skill set. God
gave us talent, and you want to be able to
use it for the greater good. So I knew that
it was there. It's just I didn't know how to
get from point A to point B. And then the
company offered an early retirement option, right, So yeah, so
God was looking out for me, I like to say,
(26:19):
and I was some I retired for seven months and
then I got to the point where I think most
of us do. I like to be on the go
as you as you know, so yeah, I can't sit still.
So you know, you can only organize your closets so
many times or do you know, kill the to do list?
You got everything taking care of You're like, no, what's next?
And then I saw the opportunity for hope within and
I thought, well, you know, it's worth a conversation with
(26:41):
Amery McAllister, our executive director, whom I volunteered with years
and years ago at Hershey Free. So I think that
was definitely a sign from God to say, I think
you better act on this, Laurie, because this might be
what you were asking for for years. So I always
I put that out there because people, I think some
times think, well, God's not hearing me, right, I asked
(27:02):
for this, I've asked for that, and I don't mean
dollar wise, I mean spiritually right. There's got to be
something better than what I'm doing now that's going to
create a greater good for the folks that live in
the community. And then maybe that ripple in the pond
effect what I do right influences and helps these people.
But then these people help these people, and you have that,
(27:24):
you know, that extra extraordinary motion stuff that you don't
even think about. And I think I put that in
some of our notes, that sometimes it's the littlest things
that make the biggest impact.
Speaker 3 (27:36):
Right.
Speaker 2 (27:37):
So I don't want to discourage people because sometimes people
seem to think, well, I've got to do something big. No,
you don't just volunteer your time. You'd be amazed at
what you can do and the impact you have on
people's lives, and not just a little bit of time.
Speaker 1 (27:49):
I've been pushing that for children for years. Yes, because, yes,
what it does for their self esteem. Yes, I mean,
I agree, we're running out of time. I want to
make sure we get some things that you have a
couple of fundraise. There's coming up. You have Let your
Light Shine tell spot that.
Speaker 2 (28:04):
Yeah, just briefly, So Let your Light Shine is a
five k It is a walk run and I say
walk and run because I have a lot of folks
that I would say are great walkers. And that's at
the Stone Gables Estate, which is a private estate. That's
where the Starbarn is. And that is July nineteenth, Okay,
so that's coming up and the registrations are open early
(28:25):
bird runs out June fifteenth, So true online, that's right.
Speaker 1 (28:29):
What other kind of support you need?
Speaker 2 (28:32):
Always donations. We have a little retail shop. I think
you've seen a retail shop called The Trove. That's our
little retail boutique shop. So we could always use donations
both to the clinic and also to the trove, and
those can be items. Actually all that's found on the
website Hope, within dot org under events tap.
Speaker 1 (28:51):
There are so many things going on there is I
think it's wonderful what you do. So anyway, when I've
got to let our listeners again, when it comes to poverty,
there's a lot of misconceptions about it and we have
our sceneotypes about it. Find out what it is, really
what it is, and you know what you never know
when you know, my mom used to say, don't spit
(29:11):
up in the air. These people that judge people that
don't have anything, You never know what's gonna happen. So anyway,
please support Laurie Ryker. She's the development director and the
rest of the staff and volunteers I hope within ministries
and they're gonna continue their generous and life changing worth
it Laurie wanted for so long, And don't forget to
catch Inside every Sunday on one of our ten iHeart
(29:32):
stations or on your favorite podcast app. I'm Sylvia Moss.
This has been Inside. Thanks so much for listening. To
see you next week.
Hi, I'm Sylvia Moss and this is Insight, a presentation
of iHeartMedia where we really do care about our local
communities and all our listeners who live here. It's a
word that evokes feelings of desperation, despair, and homelessness, and it
is for anybody who's experiencing it. Very basically, poverty is
(00:20):
defined as the human condition of not being able to
obtain or provide a standard level of things like food, water, shelter,
and medicine free or your family. However, there really isn't
anything basic about poverty because the numerous way that it
impacts those who are living in it are extensive and
generally interconnected. YEP. Poverty does exist all over the world,
(00:43):
but according to the US Census Bureau, so far this
year in twenty twenty five, almost thirty seven million Americans
are living in poverty. The outrageous thing about poverty is
that we're as well off as we are right here
in the United States. The number of people living in
poverty in our city, our rural areas, and small communities
is increasing. For almost a quarter of a century, a
(01:06):
local organization known as Hope within Ministries has understood the
complexity of poverty. They continue to provide needed services while
at the same time address the complicated physical, spiritual, and
emotional needs of the countless number of residents right here
in Lebanon, Dauphin, and Lancaster Counties. Joining us today from
Hope Within Ministries is development director and a real good
(01:29):
old friend. I don't want to say old in that sense,
but meaning I know for a long time, Laurie Reiker.
When I talk to people la are in Central Pennsylvania
about different issues, Okay, a lot of them, they don't
believe it. They don't believe that right here there's poverty
in central Pennsylvania. I try to talk to them, but
some people you can't get through. Have you found that
(01:50):
to be the case too? Do people not believe that
so many people need help in Central Pa?
Speaker 2 (01:55):
Well, first of all, thank you for having me. Absolutely,
it's always good to have you folks like yourself that
allow us to introduce Hope Within Ministry since we're in
the backyard and as people don't know where we are
or who we are and right and what we do.
So yeah, so part of what the ministry is about
is to provide primary medical care services to those folks.
(02:16):
Without health insurance, and there's a lot of people without
health insurance exactly, and you know, depending on how things go,
you're going to see an increase in the number of
people without health insurance or access to affordable health care.
It's probably a good way to put it. So, even
if it's not poverty level, it's just the idea that
there are people working, individuals that don't have health coverage
(02:38):
and then they don't have necessarily the ability or maybe
they just use as a deterrent to seek medical attention.
And that's what we do find.
Speaker 1 (02:48):
And you know what else I've done years and years ago,
there were a lot of programs out there for people
who desperately needed but they forget about middle class and
the middle class people now you see them working two
and three jobs. But a lot of people said to me,
I'm just below or just you know where I don't
qualify a couple of bucks, and you don't get it,
and yet you've got as much to worry about as
(03:09):
everybody else. So go ahead, Yes.
Speaker 2 (03:12):
Yes, I was just actually and I'm glad you kind
of segued into that. So the concern is that you
do have individuals that don't meet the qualifications. In other words,
our folks are at two hundred and fifty percent federal
poverty level or below. Right, But then there's individuals that
are working the two or three jobs and none of
those employers offer health coverage. So then you're going to
(03:34):
go to what they call the marketplace and try to
purchase health coverage and realize that that's amount. That amount
that you're going to pay could be a mortgage payment, right,
but you're trying to pay rent, You're trying to keep
a roof of your head. You're trying to help, you know,
especially if you have kids, just to afford children. Right,
And I'm talking basics. I don't mean anything fans exactly.
I'm talking very basics. So the parents and sometimes what
(03:57):
we do see, I mean, do have services of the
primary healthcare services really are for adults and kids. Okay,
so we do see both.
Speaker 1 (04:04):
Well, before we talk about that, though, let's get to
like where you are, what can you do and who
are these people that you serve.
Speaker 2 (04:12):
So we're located at forty seven forty eight East Harrisburg
Pike about two thirty probably the easiest way to and
so we're Elizabethtown. But technically we're not in the borough proper,
if that makes sense. We're just west of it.
Speaker 1 (04:25):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (04:25):
We're on Route two thirty, and i'd say we're east
of what easted to be Saturday's Market. We're east of
Sunset Golf Course. We're closer to the e town side.
We're actually in lower Dolphin school districts. Okay, so we're
in Dauphin County. But we do service folks like you
mentioned earlier, right from Levitt and Lancaster and Dauphin County areas.
Speaker 1 (04:42):
Okay, Well, very basically, you have a couple of different programs. Yes,
could you tell me what they are and then we
can get into what each one does in a little bit.
Speaker 2 (04:49):
Yeah. So really it's primary healthcare is the main and
it started out that way in two thousand and six
when the doors of the clinic opened. So primary healthcare
and then also dental services by donation, okay, and then
counseling services for low cost And what I mean by
low cost counseling is you know, five, ten, fifteen twin dollars.
Speaker 1 (05:08):
Oh yeah, yeah, that sounds good. Okay. Who are the
people that come to you?
Speaker 2 (05:11):
So I'd like to say we service folks from all
over the world, and we do have folks that come
to us by various means and methods. You do sometimes
have individuals that are here temporarily. You have some folks
that have come in to visit other relatives and then
while they're here, they may have an ilment or they
may need medication, but they don't have their medication with
them because maybe they forgot. And that happens typically to anybody, right.
Speaker 1 (05:34):
Yeah, you go away on vacation. Yeah, I've done it.
Speaker 2 (05:36):
Oh no, no, what And then you know, to say
that is that you don't always have, you know, folks
from outside the United States. You don't always have those
individuals that are using the same medications that we have
in the United States. So it gets a little tricky,
but we do our best to try to accommodate and
then try to find medications. We have a dispensary on site.
Oh well, we also work with local healthcare systems, a
(05:59):
large healthcare systems to also accommodate. So like Penn State
Health is probably a good one.
Speaker 1 (06:05):
Wonder.
Speaker 2 (06:05):
Yeah, and then we have which we'll talk about our
physicians at Volunteer.
Speaker 1 (06:10):
Okay, let's you mentioned about qualifying for these programs, you
have to go online and fill out and app right.
Speaker 2 (06:17):
There is an application online at hopewin dot org and
it's in multiple languages.
Speaker 1 (06:21):
Okay, good, Say you don't know how to use a
computer with is there anybody can help you do it?
Speaker 2 (06:26):
Right? They can? They can obviously access us by phone
number and that's the seven one seven, the three six seven,
and then nine seven nine seven, And we actually have
you know, life people that can help walk them through
or navigate that because you're right, in some situations you
don't have electronic or there maybe some people just aren't
you know, electronically.
Speaker 1 (06:47):
Savvy savvy exactly, yeah.
Speaker 2 (06:49):
Yeah, so, yes, there is a means to do that.
And even if they fill the application out online, then
we do have an individual in house that will look
at the application, review it and then reach out to
the individual if they have questions, and then get them
set up for an appointment with a physician, one of
our volunteer physicians.
Speaker 1 (07:05):
Okay, now you mentioned two hundred and fifty percent. Did
you say below the poverty level?
Speaker 2 (07:09):
So two hundred fifty percent federal property level or below?
Speaker 1 (07:11):
Yeah? No, for I checked this out to make sure
for an adult somebody by themselves is like almost like
fourteen five hundred bucks and for a family of four
to thirty thousand dollars.
Speaker 2 (07:22):
Yeah, but you think about that in day's economics, Sylvia, Oh,
you consider it no way now? Maybe five even though
I'm even thinking about even five years ago. I mean,
you know, it's been a while since I've raised children.
You have my daughter's thirty five right to tell you
how old I am. But anyway, hey, I got that
beat right, But you know what it was like to
(07:42):
raise a family. And then when I will just say,
within the past three four years, the inflation rate, how
do you keep up with that? So you do have
I think in some circumstances you probably have families that
are coming to us that never thought that they would
have to come to us. But they need, right, they
need addition, no help. Yeah, And we are primarily between
the health services, the dental services, low cost counseling. Because
(08:07):
we are a faith based organization, we also provide that spiritual.
Speaker 1 (08:10):
I'm glad you brought that up. Faith based. Explain how
that fits into everything?
Speaker 2 (08:16):
Well, I mean by faith based is it is a ministry.
And you know I often thought and when I talk
to congregations. I do a lot of speaking with congregations
because churches support us in the area. So oftentimes I
address that and say that, you know, our physicians are
able to if they choose to, if the patient wants to,
they can pray with that patient. We're typically in a
(08:37):
regular you know, clinic or denomination, yes, right, or let's
just say government funded. Okay, okay, we're not government funded.
We solely are based on donations from the generosity of
the churches and organizations and listeners, you know, the program
listeners of w HP and all across the iHeart stations
and people in central Pennsylvania have big hearts, and I
(09:00):
like to think that they're very generous individuals, so we're
very thankful for that.
Speaker 1 (09:04):
Are the churches typically do they church typically welcome what
you're doing.
Speaker 2 (09:08):
Yes, yeah, I would say for the most part, and
that's across the three counties.
Speaker 1 (09:12):
Well, you know, I know, like a lot of the
churches have their own thing that they do. But the
country started out with the churches took care of people, Yes,
did it, And somehow it got it. I don't know
why or how it got out of you know, with
the other direction. But that's good.
Speaker 2 (09:25):
That's good to hear, right, So I would say it
provides I always like to say it provides them with
physical health, and it actually for some people gives them
a second chance because they'll come to us in dire
need and we try to get them back on track
right and then provide that regular maintenance, if you will,
because we usually we get them with one physician. We
(09:47):
try to keep them schedule with the same physician.
Speaker 3 (09:49):
You know.
Speaker 2 (09:50):
I'm like I was gonna say, unlike some practices that
you walk into oh thank you, then you have like
five you're like, oh who do I have today?
Speaker 1 (09:56):
And they don't even read your record before they walk
in the door to talk. Yeah, I know that song
go ahead.
Speaker 2 (10:03):
So you know, we also, like I said, I like
to say that we also have the spiritual side. So
you provide a better health and well being and then
that spiritual need because understand that, like I said, some
folks come to us in dire need, and so that
they because they haven't had insurance, so they wait till
the last minute to come to us, and then they
may also be faced with a detrimental illness. It could
(10:26):
be something that you know, could be require additional help
or a specialist which can be referred out, but you know,
sometimes it helps to have the individual that's there to say, hey,
do you mind if I pray for you and help
you with that because this could be a long, long
journey for you and we're here with you.
Speaker 1 (10:44):
Well, that's another part of this. I wanted to ask
you about the people that go what would you call them?
Your patients? Your closs?
Speaker 2 (10:49):
Yeah, I would say patients.
Speaker 1 (10:50):
Okay, are they receptive to that? Because, like to you
and I, that's like that's the person we do is
ask got you know, pray, But a lot of people
in society that's the last resort, right And.
Speaker 2 (11:05):
I understand that, and I think they're again I believe
that the both medical and non medical personnelity are they're
all volunteers, but I think they pretty much can you know,
see whether or not that that's appropriate or acceptable. And
I'd say probably more cases than not, though, Sylvia, the
patients are welcome.
Speaker 1 (11:22):
Oh that's good.
Speaker 2 (11:24):
I believe that they do. Now you understand, I mean
out of the clinic a lot. I'm on the road,
so I say I'm on the road or the old fit,
you know, sales term. I always uses I'm in the
field because I'm out doing you know, meeting people and
doing my speaking opportunities and doing community events to get
the word out about Hope Within. And I always find
(11:44):
that face to face contact, you know, is a tremendous
benefit because a lot of people, like I said, they
don't know who we are. Then maybe they heard of
us and they said, I don't know what you guys do.
Speaker 1 (11:52):
Well, that's why I love doing this show, because there's
a lot of stuff, yeah that it's out there, and
I just love it. Let's talk about the Community Health Center. Okay. Now,
keep in mind, as we said, it's for Lancaster, Lebanon,
Dauphin County residents and you have to qualify, So go
fill out that app online. What are your primary care
services the offer? I understand you manage certain disease and
(12:14):
like say, somebody has heart disease, right right.
Speaker 2 (12:16):
I mean we do have well and you know, speaking
from a non medical background, pretty much we can handle
all those services. And we do have some specialists well
I mean is that they are primary care doctors, but
they had specialized in or have you know a little
more background in particular areas that could at least see
our patients on a primary care basis, and then if necessary,
(12:39):
they can refer those individuals out for additional help I
mean or additional specialists. Yes, because again we're primary care.
The other thing is we're not a walking clinic, so
I want to give people the impression that we're a
walking Yeah we apply, yeah, well, knowing that we just
because we are strictly and most of us I'll say
there's at least thirty volunteers or over that. Now we're
(13:01):
probably closer to fifty volunteers, both medical and non medical.
That generally speaking, even if, like you said, they didn't
apply a line. We've had people walk in and then
we have them apply either there while they're there, or
go online and apply and then get them set up
with a particular physician to be seen.
Speaker 1 (13:20):
That process.
Speaker 2 (13:22):
Oh, I'd say, as soon as the application is filled
out and then it's reviewed. I'm thinking you could turn
that within a matter of hours in some cases. I
mean they've I know in cases where they made exceptions
and said, you know, hey, we have the physicians here
an extra hour and if he's willing to stay, if
you can just fill out the application, we take a
(13:42):
quick minute to look at it? Do you mind waiting?
You know, now that's not always the case, because then
that sounds like it's more of a walk in. But
on on occasion, I'm not saying it's not impossible, because
on occasion that may happen where they can like uh,
I'll just say they go over and above both from
our non medical folks, the f that handle all the
reception and administrative work, to the physicians that are there
(14:05):
to volunteer their hours.
Speaker 1 (14:06):
What options do people have if they don't qualify?
Speaker 2 (14:09):
I think oftentimes what are I call them the healthcare
navigators will help them find alternatives in terms of what
they you know what I mean, help get them directed
to the right agencies or facilities that can maybe accommodate
those individuals. We don't want to see people out in
the cold without anything, right. We want to try and help.
Speaker 1 (14:27):
Your based organization, Yes, right number.
Speaker 2 (14:31):
One, And I mean basically we everybody acrosses our threshold,
regardless of their background or ethnicity or you know what
I mean, or their situation, and certainly what the counseling services,
especially you know, our counseling services by just in numbers
from twenty three to twenty twenty four, almost tripled, is
that right? The amount of people that are using our
(14:53):
counseling services.
Speaker 1 (14:54):
Well, it's just number one issue in this right.
Speaker 2 (14:57):
I was just going to say that, Yes, it's indign
of what we've been through over the past. Hard to believe,
like five plus years, but even before, even before the pandemic,
I just think that the pandemic kind of accentuated it.
Speaker 1 (15:09):
Or accelerated it. I know it had impact on children.
Oh my goodness, what service did y'aller for kids?
Speaker 2 (15:16):
So for kids, I mean essentially the medical and certainly
the dental services, which is great because considering that there's
probably youngsters that are coming in that were never seen
by a dentists and they could be like five, six, eight,
ten years of age. We do have a pediatric dentist
that volunteers time too, which is which is tremendous. So
(15:37):
you know, I can't say enough about our volunteers in general,
always looking for more volunteers. By the way, you know,
you can never have enough volunteers.
Speaker 1 (15:45):
Right, And that's the part of the organization.
Speaker 2 (15:47):
It really is, It really is. I think it's our
way for a lot of nonprofits, particularly for US and
you don't have to have the medical background, but we
could definitely use more volunteers for the organization as a whole.
Speaker 1 (15:59):
How do you had immunization especially all this stuff.
Speaker 2 (16:03):
And it's it's overseen by the physicians and then also
we have a head nurse and so it is coordinated
as far as as these immunizations. But I'm glad you
brought that up because even though we're ending the school year,
there will be parents out there that may need that
to get their kids started in the fall.
Speaker 1 (16:18):
So do it now.
Speaker 2 (16:19):
Yeah, yeah, don't let it go. I would say, you know,
anything like that, you want to stay ahead of it
and be proactive.
Speaker 4 (16:25):
Women's services, Yes, gynecological in other words, we have availability
for a physician to oversee from a general practice to gynocological.
Speaker 1 (16:37):
So they're going to check pregnant women out, they're going
to do mammograms all that kind of stuff.
Speaker 2 (16:41):
So the mammograms I think we still I think those
are still referred out.
Speaker 1 (16:45):
Yeah they're.
Speaker 2 (16:48):
Yes, But I mean it helps to have that referral
because then they can get them in and get them
skin and a part of that I think though too though, Sylvia,
is it if you make it easy for the women
to access that. Even though it's referred out, they'll go.
You know, I'm because at times, no, men are the worst, right,
they don't want to do anything. And I know how
that is being married for thirty some years, right, trying
(17:08):
to twist arms.
Speaker 1 (17:10):
You know, with the prostate coalition, the gentleman that comes
in and talks about this, that's the number one thing
they are targeting women because men just aren't going to
get off their butts and do it. And a lot
of times it's too.
Speaker 2 (17:21):
Late, right right. And you could say the same about colonoscopy.
So that's a conversation for another day.
Speaker 1 (17:30):
You did talk about dispensing medication. Let's go talk more
about the dental clinic. You're not going to listen to giveaway.
You're not going to provide things like dancers or things
like that.
Speaker 2 (17:40):
You don't do that, so not to that level, but
certainly the cleanings and screenings, ceilants, you know, so all
the basics. Yes, but when you get to again, I'm
not saying that we don't have the means at this
point to be able to do the extraordinary. Although in
one instance, doctor Cook is one of our volunteer dentists
(18:01):
and she has a practice full time on the West Shore,
and then she volunteers at our clinic.
Speaker 1 (18:05):
Isn't that something I know? That's who does this? People who? Yes,
full time job? Oh yeah, God bless them, Erica.
Speaker 2 (18:11):
How about it. God bless them for for taking time
out of their busy schedules already. But then she had
an incident with one of our patients that had come
in and that woman needed some heart She had to
have heart surgery done, but her oral surgery was in
such poor health.
Speaker 3 (18:27):
That's what people don't understand that they they stepped in,
I mean doctor goodtein Inicile's her assistant, and the two
of them put in extra time because they have the
heart and soul and the passion to help individuals well
need well.
Speaker 2 (18:39):
People don't were about that's right.
Speaker 1 (18:41):
People don't understand that if you don't take care of
your teeth and gums, it can happen.
Speaker 2 (18:45):
They are directly related. Yes, and you're and you're you're
you're very yes, yes, yes, yes, it is a I think,
as you mentioned that, people don't necessarily understand the connection.
But they're tied close together. So did all the dental
work that they could possibly do and then to get
that woman ready for the surgery because she had to
have that surgery done. But the physician, because of such
(19:08):
poor dental right because we said the two are connected,
he wasn't going to operate on her. So luckily, well,
I mean in the long run it worked out. So
I mean they just went the extra mile mile and
a half, right.
Speaker 1 (19:21):
Talk about more, and we just touched on counseling. It's
for everybody. It's it's open to the public, and there's
a lot of different I don't know if you would
know about some of the yours. Of course, they're depressed,
they have anxiety, things like that. And these people that
offered their time the counseling center are they registered are
the therapy.
Speaker 2 (19:41):
So most of them practice, I believe. All the more
are the graduate students at Lankster Bible College. Doctor Carol
Geiger is the director of the counseling center. She does
a tremendous job. And I mean they they work as
a team. So even though let's say you sit with
one counselor, they'll look at your whole obviously it's all confidential,
(20:02):
but they will look at your case as a team. Okay,
And decide like what is the best, you know, way
to move forward. And it could be everything from the
of course financial people through stress, right, whether it's caused
by finances obviously, you know, with the with the tumultuous
economy at times, it could be job related. It could
just be family and marriage, you know, and challenges with
(20:25):
raising a family or or marriage, counseling, anxiety, stress, depression, yeah,
all of that. And like I said, when I looked
at the twenty twenty three numbers and then we just
you know, at the beginning of the year, looked at
twenty twenty four numbers, and I was amazed because well
I wasn't. I wasn't.
Speaker 1 (20:44):
I was anxious to ask you that how your numbers
had been within a year or so.
Speaker 2 (20:50):
Yeah, it almost tripled in terms of counseling. So you know,
there again the counseling center, it is a separate wing.
But I in my mind, I thought, if I would
be able to look at the everything five to ten
years down the road, I can imagine like a whole
like dental area, just just dental by itself, and then
(21:10):
the counseling and of course the medical I could see
my coworkers are gonna be like, oh no, no, I
could see like if we had the availability and the
money to do so, I could see us definitely enlarge
in the clinic.
Speaker 1 (21:21):
Well, I know you and it's going to happen.
Speaker 2 (21:23):
But we're you know, we're restricted by our size right now.
So we're trying to manage the best we can. But
in terms of dentistry, we could use another volunteer, dentists.
Speaker 1 (21:33):
Let's talk more about these wonderful volunteers. But they like
the dentists and the doctors and all these people that
help help tell us a little bit about them. More
about that.
Speaker 2 (21:42):
So the physicians, uh again, some of them are retired,
some of them are still actively employed, but a lot
of them come to us by way of you know,
other healthcare systems. And then some of them are still employed,
some are retired. And what's interesting is in the uh
we just read there a three minute video for Hope
within so that when I go out and do speaking
(22:03):
engagements with organizations, like one of our doctors in there
is doctor Rittenhouse. And of course when I'm down in
the Lancaster Areabody's like doctor Rittenhouse, that's my doctor, you know,
So he's like the celebrity, right. Yeah, So these are
a lot of folks that have been involved in their communities,
have involved in the you know, medical field for some years,
and they just do a tremendous job with our patients.
(22:26):
I will say that. So if I'm in now the
clinic of I'm in the office side, and that's where
our physicians do all of their you know, uh, computer work,
right because everything has to be documented scripts, if they
have to write you prescription and so forth. So I
just know that they have that good relationship and that
connection with their patients, which is a great feeling. And
so I will say our patients are well taken care of,
(22:48):
both from the non medical side, spiritual side, and of
course from the medical side itself. Dentists again actively employed,
whether private practice or with a healthcare system, but I
would say mostly to volunteer their time. So with a dentist,
we could always use another volunteer dentist or two. You
have to have a dentist on site, even for our
(23:10):
hygienis to do all the cleanings and you know, the
exams and do the x rays. Yeah, so we still
have to have some buy on site even if they
were just doing paperwork as long as they're on site.
So we could have about how to express this except
where we're a need because we have ninety three people
waiting for dental services, oh goodness, and that's just our patients.
(23:32):
We don't even have the availability right now, Sylvia open
it up to the public, and we know that there's
a tremendous need from the public for dental services, so
it would be you know, hopefully down the road, it
will be tremendous if we can increase the amount of
dental patients that can be seen.
Speaker 1 (23:51):
So it'll work. I know you and as I said,
known you for a long time. I know you have
a huge heart. But when I ask about something happened recently,
you lost somebody. Can you talk about him a little bit.
Speaker 2 (24:02):
Just briefly. You know. We're appreciative of both Anita and
Brian for starting the clinic. It was a vision in
two thousand and two, and then the clinic opened its
stores in two thousand and six, so they really pioneered
the clinic, and I think, do we have a physical
responsibility to be good stores of that clinic and hopefully
keep it open for another twenty years. But along with that,
(24:22):
like I said, I'd like to be able to see,
you know, an envision us being able to provide more
services in terms of or at least increase the amount
patient base that we have, so that, in my mind
would be the goal.
Speaker 1 (24:34):
Let me ask you a little something about I like
to these interviews are more than facts and figures. I
have said many times, I know who comes in here
who's like an executive director, and they are passionate about something,
and they will be there. And I also can recognize
who's there because they're waiting to move to the next
(24:55):
job for one reason or another. You're not like that.
But I want to ask you, working for this organization,
did it make you realize anything about yourself? Well?
Speaker 2 (25:05):
Yes, but even before that when I was working, I've
been in you know, I was in private you know,
industry for for years. So let's say thirty five plus
years without like really aging myself, but thirty five plus
years in private industry.
Speaker 1 (25:17):
Better talk to some one of those counselors, because age
go ahead. I did the same thing.
Speaker 2 (25:24):
Well, but you know, I've been in sales, marketing, you know,
branding and promotion. I've been doing that for ten years,
a long time, right, was at WHP here many years back,
and I always enjoyed that. And the last company I
was with a large corporation, nationwide corporation with like fifty
some thousand employees blah blah blah. So uh, I always
(25:46):
thought that there was something more than that. Had to
be something more, had to be, something bigger and better
than that. And I don't mean from a economic standpoint,
I mean from a spiritual.
Speaker 1 (25:57):
Change people's lives.
Speaker 2 (25:58):
Yes, because right, God gave us this skill set. God
gave us talent, and you want to be able to
use it for the greater good. So I knew that
it was there. It's just I didn't know how to
get from point A to point B. And then the
company offered an early retirement option, right, So yeah, so
God was looking out for me, I like to say,
(26:19):
and I was some I retired for seven months and
then I got to the point where I think most
of us do. I like to be on the go
as you as you know, so yeah, I can't sit still.
So you know, you can only organize your closets so
many times or do you know, kill the to do list?
You got everything taking care of You're like, no, what's next?
And then I saw the opportunity for hope within and
I thought, well, you know, it's worth a conversation with
(26:41):
Amery McAllister, our executive director, whom I volunteered with years
and years ago at Hershey Free. So I think that
was definitely a sign from God to say, I think
you better act on this, Laurie, because this might be
what you were asking for for years. So I always
I put that out there because people, I think some
times think, well, God's not hearing me, right, I asked
(27:02):
for this, I've asked for that, and I don't mean
dollar wise, I mean spiritually right. There's got to be
something better than what I'm doing now that's going to
create a greater good for the folks that live in
the community. And then maybe that ripple in the pond
effect what I do right influences and helps these people.
But then these people help these people, and you have that,
(27:24):
you know, that extra extraordinary motion stuff that you don't
even think about. And I think I put that in
some of our notes, that sometimes it's the littlest things
that make the biggest impact.
Speaker 3 (27:36):
Right.
Speaker 2 (27:37):
So I don't want to discourage people because sometimes people
seem to think, well, I've got to do something big. No,
you don't just volunteer your time. You'd be amazed at
what you can do and the impact you have on
people's lives, and not just a little bit of time.
Speaker 1 (27:49):
I've been pushing that for children for years. Yes, because, yes,
what it does for their self esteem. Yes, I mean,
I agree, we're running out of time. I want to
make sure we get some things that you have a
couple of fundraise. There's coming up. You have Let your
Light Shine tell spot that.
Speaker 2 (28:04):
Yeah, just briefly, So Let your Light Shine is a
five k It is a walk run and I say
walk and run because I have a lot of folks
that I would say are great walkers. And that's at
the Stone Gables Estate, which is a private estate. That's
where the Starbarn is. And that is July nineteenth, Okay,
so that's coming up and the registrations are open early
(28:25):
bird runs out June fifteenth, So true online, that's right.
Speaker 1 (28:29):
What other kind of support you need?
Speaker 2 (28:32):
Always donations. We have a little retail shop. I think
you've seen a retail shop called The Trove. That's our
little retail boutique shop. So we could always use donations
both to the clinic and also to the trove, and
those can be items. Actually all that's found on the
website Hope, within dot org under events tap.
Speaker 1 (28:51):
There are so many things going on there is I
think it's wonderful what you do. So anyway, when I've
got to let our listeners again, when it comes to poverty,
there's a lot of misconceptions about it and we have
our sceneotypes about it. Find out what it is, really
what it is, and you know what you never know
when you know, my mom used to say, don't spit
(29:11):
up in the air. These people that judge people that
don't have anything, You never know what's gonna happen. So anyway,
please support Laurie Ryker. She's the development director and the
rest of the staff and volunteers I hope within ministries
and they're gonna continue their generous and life changing worth
it Laurie wanted for so long, And don't forget to
catch Inside every Sunday on one of our ten iHeart
(29:32):
stations or on your favorite podcast app. I'm Sylvia Moss.
This has been Inside. Thanks so much for listening. To
see you next week.
Popular Podcasts
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.